“What’s he doing?” as a way to share how you take notes with co-workers
Want a simple trick to get your co-workers interested in the tools you use and think they should be too… Push your laptop an extra half foot or more towards the center of the conference table and let them peak at how you are taking notes. Curiousity killed the cat, so they will inquire during a slow part of the meeting or afterwards.
Some quick tips…
- Choose a simple meeting to do this at. If your notes are too complex then they won’t see the immediate value.
- Have a quick answer ready. Don’t explain the whole thing, just the interesting parts. Keep it relevant to their role.
- Have follow up material ready. Such as a well polished example and a complex one. Also refer to a “known” solution that you created using your process.
An example from one of my recent meetings was using MindManager to take notes. Two people inquired during slow parts of the meetings as to what I was doing. I tilted my laptop their way and zoomed out to show my map, but didn’t explain all about Mind Mapping. I just quietly mentioned that I was using MindManager to create a Mind Map and clicked on the task info, notes sections, and outline view. Afterwards I showed one of them a little more detail about my notes and some of the other features. I mentioned a recent MS Project Plan I created just by exporting a map and how simple it was compared to creating it from scratch in Project. Just enough tidbits to show the value and generate interest, without over explaining or saturating them (which I have done in the past).
Yesterday it was MindManager, but I have used the same technique to show Screencasts, Screen Snapshots (Print Key) for quick documentation, OneNote PowerToys, FireFox Tabs, RSS Readers, and more. I won’t be getting an “Evangelist” title any time soon, but it sure is fun when they come back all excited to show me a solution they created using the tools.
